A thick cloud shrouded the city of Madrid and the plane I was aboard ambled through it, landing amongst the fog. It was a funny feeling. Normally I choose to sit on the window seat so that I can survey a new city from afar, making observations about it before I arrive.

Meet Niki, she runs the The Wasteland Plan. Every weekend for the past 16 months she has been collecting plastic waste. When she moved to Little Cayman, she inspired a movement. She inspired the locals to do more about the local plastic crisis. Will she inspire you?

New York City is often called the concrete jungle. Although there are various parks, most of the wildlife consists of birds, squirrels, and people. However, there is a new star in town that’s far too big for Broadway. Move over Lin Manuel Miranda! Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth make room because whales are back in New York City!

Working in an environmental field can sometimes mean hard work and perseverance, despite global setbacks, to protect our natural resources. With climate change already impacting the arctic, it may seem like all good news for this particular region is long gone. However, Canada has given conservationists a recent glimmer of hope as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has highlighted climate change as a clear concern for all departments of his government

It’s the season for celebrations and what better to celebrate than women in leadership program Homeward Bound. The birth child of Fabian Dattner (Twitter: @FabianDattner), Homeward Bound aims to bring 1000 women in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) together over 10 years through their training programming which culminates with an expedition in Antarctica.

The Polar Regions (Arctic and Antarctic) play a hugely important role in helping us understand how the Earth works. Our Earth is a global system, with all regions having an interconnecting role. The polar regions are immensely integral components of the Earth system yet due to how remote they are they are poorly understood.

If you live anywhere that gets cold, you’ve been told to not eat the yellow snow. But no one told us what to do with pink snow. Places around the world are starting to experience watermelon snow a.k.a. “blood snow”. Don’t worry no one got hurt. This isn’t the ‘White Christmas’ episode of Black Mirror. It’s actually due to an algae, Chlamydormonas nivalis, expressing natural red/pink pigment to protect itself from UV rays.

Meet Lauren, she recently earned her masters in fisheries and aquatic sciences from the University of Florida. As a student, she had the opportunity to work in a lab focused on invasion ecology and took part in fisheries research. Lauren's research focused on determining the potential invasiveness of Alligator Gar while assisting with the risk assessment of non-native fish and amphibians.

Every year 8.8 million tonnes of plastic are dumped into our seas which has a devastating impact on marine wildlife. CuanTec is a Scottish marine biotechnology company with an innovative answer to the plastic problem through their food-safe packaging made from langoustine shells.

With the looming threat of overfishing, and human health problems coupled with the push for sustainable fisheries, the seafood industry is seeing a trend in alternative options, much like the meat industry. With substitute meat products like Beyond Meat and the Impossible Burger grabbing headlines, the noticeable gap in alternative seafood options has been recognized, and thus, is beginning to ramp up

Climate change is responsible for devastating and, in some cases, irreversible changes to our marine environment. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released a ‘Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate’. The report paints a harsh reality for the future of our beloved marine environment: ocean warming will continue, heat waves will become more intense and frequent, sea level will continue to rise, and out of all of our marine and coastal ecosystems, coral reefs will face the greatest risk under future climate change.

The communities of Fire Island, NY host around 4,200 houses that in the summer time are flooded by families, artists, musicians, scientists, seasonal workers, and friends. It’s a laid back lifestyle that includes waving to everyone you see with a smile, never wearing shoes, and embracing a layer of salt on your skin that you can just never wash off.